asian markets were mostly higher on improved manufacturing data from china. tokyo's nikkei edged up a fraction to a seven month closing high while the hang seng lost more than 1%. on wall street concerns over the fiscal cliff appear to have been out weighed to the strong start. the dow was up 15 points finishing above 13,000 while the nasdaq added 43 points. so far there's been no resolution of the strike by clerical workers at the ports of los angeles and long beach. the strike enters it's seventh day today, slowing traffic at the nation's busiest cargo complex. dock workers are refusing to cross the picket lines. clerical workers said management has been outsourcing their work. delta airlines is looking to buy 49% stake in virgin airlines owned by singapore airlines. 51% of virgin atlantic is owned by richard branson. virgin is the second biggest airline at london's heathrow airport. it would allow delta to expand its london to new york flights. carbon pollution went up sharply last year. a new study said the world's nations pumped more than 38 billion tons